The Federal Reserve is preparing to grab more power

by John Tate

This week, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on Barney Frank's financial regulatory reform bill, which is yet another thousand page-plus attempt to increase the powers of Congress and the Federal Reserve while destroying more of what little free market our country has left.

Contact Congress and tell your representative you have seen enough of the federal government's thousands of pages of regulations and tinkering around in our economy.

Composed of several bills, the final package up for vote is H.R. 4173, slyly titled "The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act." With amendments, this legislation now exceeds 1500 pages!

H.R. 4173 would create more government bureaucracies to interfere with market operations, and, according to Subtitle G of the bill, the federal government would also have direct authorization to take over and break up any financial institution it deems to be "too big to fail."

So imagine what Congress, well-skilled in articulating pseudo-justifications, would then be able to do, by law, to any institution that resisted its interventions!

Your representative needs to hear from you immediately! Find your congressman's information here.

Be sure to urge your representative to set a new tone in Washington by instead supporting an up or down, standalone vote on Audit the Fed, H.R. 1207. Before Congress even considers the Federal Reserve's future role in our economy, it should know what the Fed is up to with the powers it currently has.

It's long past time to deliver the answers the American people want and deserve about what is being done with their money.

Tell your representative to oppose H.R. 4173 and to push for a standalone vote on Ron Paul's Audit the Fed bill!

Source: Campaign For Liberty

Audit the Fed – or end it? | fed, paul, auditing - Opinion - The Orange County Register

Sometimes persistence meets opportunity. Dr. Ron Paul, the libertarian Republican congressman from Texas who ran an enthusiastic but ultimately quixotic campaign for the presidential nomination last year, has introduced a bill to audit the Federal Reserve System going back to 1983. He finally got some traction on the idea this year. His bill attracted 317 co-sponsors (180 Republicans, 137 Democrats). It is slated to be voted on and probably approved today as part of a much broader package of new government regulations on financial institutions.

Ironically, Dr. Paul will probably vote against it. His whole purpose in politics is to reduce regulation and government involvement in the economy, and he'll stick to those guns even though the bill has a little sweetener he likes.

Such adherence to principle is admirable and all too rare. Support for the idea of auditing the secretive Fed probably does not reflect widespread support for Dr. Paul's ultimate goal of abolishing the Fed, but a rising populist resentment of powerful secretive institutions and a sneaking suspicion that the Fed contributed to last year's financial fiasco and then focused on protecting bankers and other fat cats.

We hope support for auditing the Fed leads to more fundamental questioning of whether the Fed should exist at all. It's worth noting that the Fed was supposed to stabilize the money supply and the economy, but since it was formed in 1913, panics, downturns and financial fiascos have been more frequent and severe than they were before.

Whether that comes to pass, auditing the Fed and making its operations less opaque seems to be an idea whose time has come.

Source: Orange County register

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The Decline and Fall of the American Empire

by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

Albert Einstein said: "the men who possess real power in this country have no intention of ending the cold war." It is one of the most incredible 'coincidences' in history that as the Berlin Wall fell and communism ceased to be the global threat we had been told it was, a new 'bogey man' would arise, as if on cue, to take its place. World terrorism', like a good steward, is now on the job, keeping the crooks on K-street and the Pentagon in firm control of one of the largest, most dangerous empires since Rome. Like the U.S. today, the Roman economy was 'militarized', the empire over-extended, the battles fought by mercenaries. The currency might get you into the Coliseum for the 'games' but little else. Thus --bread and circuses were popular. When the Praetorian Guard auctioned the Roman Empire to Didius Julianus the sale was completed in Greek Drachmas --not worthless Roman Sesterces.

Some two decades ago, it was decided by the global financial elites that the framework for the global economy shall consist of:

1) A global derivative-based financial system, controlled by the US Federal Reserve Bank and its associate global banks in the developed countries. 2) The re-location from the West to the East in the production of goods, principally to China and India to “feed” the developed economies.

The entire system was built on a simple principle, that of a FED-controlled global reserve currency which will be the engine for growth for the global economy. It is essentially an imperialist economic principle. Once we grasp this fundamental truth, Bernanke’s boast that the “US can produce as many US dollars as it wishes at no cost” takes on a different dimension.

I have talked to so many economists and when asked what is the crux of the present financial problem, they all respond in unison, “it is the global imbalances… the West consumes too much while the East saves too much and consumes not enough”. This is exemplified by the huge US trade deficits on the one part and China’s massive surpluses on the other.

--Red Alert: The Second Wave of The Financial Tsunami

The U. S. is routinely pimped on K-Street and, like Rome's sesterces and denarius, the dollar is all but worthless; China boasts the Worlds largest POSITIVE current account balance; the US the largest trade deficit. China props up the US dollar but only because it has to. This Faustian bargain was first cut by Bush Sr who paved the way for Nixon's famous trip to China's Forbidden City.

In December 2008 Lawrence Summers, soon to become the administration’s highest-ranking economist, called for decisive action. “Many experts,” he warned, “believe that unemployment could reach 10 percent by the end of next year.” In the face of that prospect, he continued, “doing too little poses a greater threat than doing too much.”Ten months later unemployment reached 10.2 percent, suggesting that despite his warning the administration hadn’t done enough to create jobs. You might have expected, then, a determination to do more.--Paul Krugman, The Phantom Menace

Some have said that the stiumli were not enough, in other words, 'too small'. It was not that the stimuli were too small but that those getting the stimuli were the banksters who had created this mess to begin with. Alas --nothing is learned from the lessons of history.

Most economists agree: the West consumes too much and the East, primarily China does not consume enough. Compounding the problem --China props up the dollar but only because it had to dump cheap product upon the American market via Wal-Mart, it's retail 'arm' in the U.S.

Source: The Existentialist Cowboy

Academics Spar With Populists Over Fed Audits

A group of academic economists – including several Nobel Prize winners, leaders of respected economic journals and former Fed officials – is dialing up its call for lawmakers to drop plans to subject the Federal Reserve to more scrutiny by the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress.

In a letter to leaders on the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee, the economists say a bill proposed by Rep. Ron Paul (R., Tex.) and Alan Grayson (D., Fla.) to let the GAO review Fed monetary policy would do “serious harm to the economy.” They warn increased congressional oversight would harm the Fed’s independence and ability to fight inflation.

Mr. Paul has built a popular movement in part on his attacks against the Fed and won large support in the House for his bill. Ben Bernanke, Fed chairman, has a growing body of academics on his side. Some 270 economists have signed the letter, including Edward Prescott, Myron Scholes, Daniel McFadden, Fynn Kydland, Roger Myerson and Robert Engel, all Nobel winners.

Source: LewRockwell.com

Bernie Sanders Puts Hold on Bernanke!

WASHINGTON, December 2 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today placed a hold on the nomination of Ben Bernanke for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

“The American people overwhelmingly voted last year for a change in our national priorities to put the interests of ordinary people ahead of the greed of Wall Street and the wealthy few,” Sanders said. “What the American people did not bargain for was another four years for one of the key architects of the Bush economy.”

As head of the central bank since 2006, Bernanke could have demanded that Wall Street provide adequate credit to small and medium-sized businesses to create decent-paying jobs in a productive economy, but he did not.

He could have insisted that large bailed-out banks end the usurious practice of charging interest rates of 30 percent or more on credit cards, but he did not.

He could have broken up too-big-to-fail financial institutions that took Federal Reserve assistance, but he did not.

He could have revealed which banks took more than $2 trillion in taxpayer-backed secret loans, but he did not.

“The American people want a new direction on Wall Street and at the Fed. They do not want as chairman someone who has been part of the problem and who has been responsible for many of the enormous difficulties that we are now experiencing,” Sanders said. “It’s time for a change at the Fed.”

The Federal Reserve has four main responsibilities: to conduct monetary policy in a way that leads to maximum employment and stable prices; to maintain the safety and soundness of financial institutions; to contain systemic risk in financial markets; and to protect consumers against deceptive and unfair financial products.

Since Bernanke took over as Fed chairman in 2006, unemployment has more than doubled and, today, 17.5 percent of the American workforce is either unemployed or underemployed.

Not since the Great Depression has the financial system been as unsafe, unsound, and unstable as it has been during Mr. Bernanke’s tenure. More than 120 banks have failed since he became chairman.

Under Bernanke’s watch, the value of risky derivatives held at our nation’s top commercial banks grew from $110 trillion to more than $290 trillion, 95 percent of which are concentrated in just five financial institutions.

Bernanke failed to prevent banks from issuing deceptive and unfair financial products to consumers. Under his leadership, mortgage lenders were allowed to issue predatory loans they knew consumers could not afford to repay. This risky practice was allowed to continue long after the FBI warned in 2004 of an “epidemic” in mortgage fraud.

After the financial crisis hit, Bernanke’s response was to provide trillions of dollars in virtually zero-interest loans and other taxpayer assistance to some of the largest financial institutions in the world. Adding insult to injury, Bernanke refused to tell the American people the names of the institutions that received this handout or the terms involved.

“Mr. Bernanke has failed at all four core responsibilities of the Federal Reserve,” Sanders concluded. “It’s time for him to go.”

Source: Dandelion Salad

For Everyone Who Wants HR 1207 to Happen, A Must Read By Edwin Vieira.

Edwin Vieira is a Constitutional lawyer that supports Ron Paul.

This is from his article Smashing the Axis of Financial Fraud

{ A snip }
Even earlier, Thomas Jefferson had predicted the reason for such a sorry state of affairs:

From the conclusion of the [W]ar [of Independence] we shall be going down hill. It will not then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for support. They will be forgotten, therefore, and their rights disregarded. They will forget themselves, but in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights.[2]

Jefferson was all too prescient. Ever since his day, the political class has looked elsewhere than to the American people for support—and always found it from the financial class.

The financial class has arrayed itself on the side of the political class, and the political class has arrayed itself on the side of the financial class—not just in an incestuous coupling, but in the veritable fusion of a political-cum-financial hermaphrodite: the full integration and consolidation of bank and state.

This unholy alliance has always centered around a mechanism by means of which the financial class can create ersatz “money” out of nothing tangible—through a monopolistic national bank (the First and Second Banks of the United States), then a national banking conglomerate (the National Banks of the Civil War), and finally a fully corporative-state banking apparatus (the modern Federal Reserve System), all operating on the basis of “reserves” so increasingly fractional that they have now become essentially fictional. Through the General Government, the political class has guaranteed the continuance of this scheme, in one form or another, for more than two hundred years.
By so doing, the political class has always been able to count on the support of the financial class—but only at the cost of enabling the financial class to exercise exorbitant influence over the General Government, and through the General Government over the American people themselves.

The true name of this system is financial fascism......much more at link:

Source: News With Views

The Fed At The Heart Of Control Of Our Country

Who controls things in Washington DC, really? americans dont understand how their system really works, Thugs with Ivy League Degrees run the show, debt monetized at a frantic pace and makes matters worse, delinquent and default mortgages, banks get money for nothing

Last week the Dow added 1.3%, the S&P 1.5%, the Russell 2000, 0.2% and the Nasdaq 100, 0.7%. Cyclicals rose 2.6%; transports 3.8%; consumers 1.7%; utilities 1.3%, as banks fell 0.3% and broker/dealers fell 0.6%. High tech fell 0.2% semis 1.1%; bitoechs 1.9% and Internets rose 0.2%. Gold bullion rose $3.00 and the HUI was unchanged, but up 47.5% on the year. The USDX, the dollar index fell 1.1% to 75.62.

The 2-year T-bills fell 2 bps to 0.83%, the 10-year notes rose 2 bps to 3.41% and the 10-year German bund added 8 bps to 3.28%.

Freddie Mac 30-year fixed rate mortgages rose 5 bps to 4.92%; the 15’s rose 4 bps to 4.37% and the one-year ARMs jumped 7 bps to 4.60%. The 30-year fixed jumbo fell 6 bps to 6.00%.

Federal Reserve credit declined $12.9 billion, up 21% yoy. Fed foreign holdings of Treasury/Agency debt rose $4.1 billion to a record $2.865 trillion. Custody holdings for foreign central banks expanded at a 17.5% rate ytd, and yoy 15.2%.

M-2 narrow money supply fell $23.3 billion to $8.341 trillion, that is 5.9% yoy.

Total money market assets dropped $42.3 billion to $3.404 trillion. They have declined $427 billion ytd, or 14.1% annualized.

The charade in NYC and Washington goes on. There is no question that our government is controlled by the unelected that lurks behind the scenes or are appointed as bureaucrats to run our country. It was never more evident than when administrations changed last January. Team A replaced Team B, all of whom just happen to be members of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg Group. There is no debate. There is only one plan and that is for one-world government. These are the Illuminists who will Shepard us into final bondage. This is what our government is all about today and has been since WWII.

The heart of the elitist control mechanism is the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department. Control of our country emanates from these two entities. They control the purse strings of our nation. They allow us to pay for our own destruction. This is achieved by taxation and debt. The system in place has been used for centuries to keep control over people. The elitists want total power over us and all the inhabitants of the world.

Their plans to bring down the world’s economic and financial structure is well underway. The problem is that the public has begun to discover what they are up too via talk radio, the Internet and publications such as the International Forecaster. That has caused the elitists to accelerate their plans and that has opened the window of opportunity for us.

This is why now it is the appropriate time to pass HR1207 and SB604, bills to audit and investigate the Federal Reserve. Once the public discovers what these elitists have been doing to the American people for almost a century, they will disband the Fed and turn its job of monetary policy back to the Treasury where it was placed by our Constitution. This way we will have control and transparency. The next step will be to close the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington.

t has been two years since the beginning of the credit crisis and the breakdown of our economic and financial structure. The plan by the elitists since then has been to keep the system functioning as long as possible so that they can continue their massive frauds and corruption; or until the time is ripe to allow the system to collapse. These plans are ably assisted by 95% of our House and Senate who are bought and paid for. The corruption is so widespread that investigations do not take place and the guilty are protected and at worst pay a fine.

Due to these machinations the America we have known is gone. Our country is run by thugs in $3,000 suits with Ivy League degrees.

Most Americans do not understand what is going on or don’t care to know. Most are ill-educated and do not really and a chance of comprehending what is going on. That is compounded by drugs and alcohol and a steady stream of media propaganda and brainwashing produced by NYC and Washington. Our daughter teaches the fourth grade and 20 of 23 students are not passing. They are split three ways: white, black and Spanish speaking. Then there is no ‘Child Left Behind,’ which will make sure they pass summer school and when they graduate they will be functionally illiterate. It doesn’t get much worse than this. When we went to school one or maybe two out of 30 wouldn’t pass and they were kept back for a year. It is outrageous. They spend all their time studying for federal government mandated tests, and learn little else. Our three grandchildren read one to four extra books a week and fortunately really excel in their studies. It can be done, but it takes lots of work and dedication something that most parents do not have time for. This in part is what is responsible for America’s failure and lack of leadership. Leadership, which is totally in the hands of the wealthy Illuminists. If it is any consolation the rest of the world isn’t doing much better.

The geniuses, the masters of the universe, have a broken system. This time the system they have deliberately destroyed cannot be resurrected. Due to talk radio, the Internet and publications such as the IF they had to accelerate their program for on-world government and they are scrambling, hoping they’ll be successful, and unscathed. We will make sure they’ll be no chance of that.

As a result of these machinations America is at the mercy of its creditors and for all intents and purposes is bankrupt. The only thing left holding America together is its imperial armies that eventually will collapse for lack of funding. Foreigners are not going to stand for monetization indefinitely. Yes, the players know the system has failed, and some have already broken ranks. If they had not Forex assets in sovereign reserves would not have fallen from 64.5% to 62.8% over the past nine months, as proof of that.

We have told you where we have been headed over and over again for more than ten years and we have been almost totally right unfortunately. If we do not stop these monsters we and our ancestors will live in bondage for ever. That is why passage of HR1207 and SB604 are so important. We have to drive a stake through the heart of the Illuminist machine. That heart is the Fed. If we are unsuccessful we are doomed to chaos and perhaps revolution. Americans had best wake up and snap out of denial.

Most analysts try to figure out what others within the financial and economic sphere are doing. Unfortunately they are burdened by playing within the system. They cannot see what is really going on because for one reason or another they are forced to frame their results within the inner sanctum of the Illuminists. This is the cover that is used for deliberately destroying nations. These ideas cannot simply be avoided. You would think reading history that all these brilliant people wouldn’t be deceived, but they have been. Every time, what they are doing has been tried, has been a failure. Deliberate collapses, destroyed currencies, social chaos and revolution. During the French Revolution 300,000 people such as these lost their heads. Perhaps this time it will be 3 million. Inflation can only be controlled by deflation and deflation is totally uncontrollable. Misguided isn’t the word for it. Smug and arrogant they’ll again be proven wrong and unfortunately we will all pay a terrible price.

The progenitors of this false economic policy, Keynesianism, have brought the distortion of price mechanisms, created unlimited opportunities for speculation and they have thrown all discipline to the wind. This is the basis for our current Federal Reserve System, which is the engine for such a philosophy. As a result of this policy we will be entering hyperinflation next year and the dollar will continue to fall in value.

Even though gold and silver are suppressed, gold hit a new high this past week. The CRB index did as well with oil leading the way. This is all a manifestation of coming hyperinflation and a falling dollar.

The Keynesians are pumping the money supply and monetizing domestic and foreign debt at a wild pace. The deflationary undertow continues strong as residential and commercial property prices continue their decent. The final impact is still two or more years away.

There are few financial reports that do not include bogus accounting. The FASB changed the rules last year and allowed mark-to-model accounting. Let’s see if they reinstate mark-to-market January 1st. The Basel Accords have been simply ignored and no one discusses them. Exclusive of present on and off balance sheet losses, banks are going to get hit with more residential foreclosure losses and they will be hit by 35% more commercial losses over the next two years. If nothing else the banks cannot refinance perfectly good loans because they do not have the funds to do so.

The big question for the banks is will the government perpetuate this fraud? We do not know, but we rather think they may for the good of the country. If fraud continues it will be for the benefit of Illuminists who run the banks, brokerage houses, insurance companies and transnational conglomerates. Either way again all they are doing is buying time; the end result will be the same. The banking, brokerage and insurance businesses are still broke. Nothing has been done to fix the underlying problem. There have been no structural changes, just the same old criminality. Any changes are patchwork for the public. Stimulus packages, home loan modification and $250 checks for seniors who will not get a COLA increase for the next three years. It is like the mad hatter has been set loose.

Where are the tariffs on goods and services we so desperately need to bring production and jobs back from the third world? Without them everything else is futile. Offshore tax-free earnings, now some $1.3 trillion, are too juicy for the Illuminists to give up. Then again, what better way to destroy an economy, as we wrote in 1967 in the American Mercury?

Then there is the outrageous scam of terrorism and mindless, endless war to again fill the coffers of the Illuminists and rid the world of useless eaters.

Monetization only makes matters much worse, as we shall see when hyperinflation revisits us next year. In this process the dollar is allowed to collapse and it was planned that way.

Borrowers have sold more than $1 trillion in US corporate bonds in 2009, the fastest pace on record. Citigroup and General Electric were the year’s biggest issuers. Sales compare with $873.2 billion in all of 2008, and $1.17 trillion for 2007, the biggest year for bond sales.

The record rally in the price of loans owed by the riskiest corporate borrowers may end a two- year drought in leveraged buyouts. Banks provided almost $7.5 billion of high-yield loans in the U.S. and Europe since July 1 to finance acquisitions, more than double the amount in the three months ended June 30 and more than four times the figure in the first quarter.

Central banks flush with record reserves are increasingly snubbing dollars in favor of euros and yen, further pressuring the greenback after its biggest two-quarter rout in almost two decades. Policy makers boosted foreign currency holdings by $413 billion last quarter, the most since at least 2003, to $7.3 trillion. Nations reporting currency breakdowns put 63% of the new cash into euros and yen in April, May and June, the latest Barclays Capital data show. That’s the highest percentage in any quarter with more than an $80 billion increase. World leaders are acting on threats to dump the dollar while the Obama administration shows a willingness to tolerate a weaker currency in an effort to boost exports and the economy. The diversification signals that the currency won’t rebound anytime soon after losing 10.3% on a trade-weighted basis the past six months, the biggest drop since 1991.

US foreclosure filings climbed to a record in the third quarter according to RealtyTrac Inc. A total of 937,840 homes received a default or auction notice or were repossessed by banks, a 23% increase from a year earlier.

The Chicago Transit Authority proposed service cuts and boosting some bus and train fares 33% to close a $300 million budget gap prompted by pension obligations and the weak economy.

The volume of delinquent commercial mortgages jumped sevenfold last month as borrowers who got loans with lax terms fail to make debt payments amid sinking real estate values, according to Credit Suisse Group AG. In September, installments on $22.4 billion of mortgages were at least 60 days late, up from $3.2 billion a year earlier. The delinquency rate rose 33 bps to 3.34%.

Even as the economy continues to struggle, much of Wall Street is minting money — and looking forward again to hefty bonuses.

Many Americans wonder how this can possibly be. How can some banks be prospering so soon after a financial collapse, even as legions of people worry about losing their jobs and their homes?

It may come as a surprise that one of the most powerful forces driving the resurgence on Wall Street is not the banks but Washington. Many of the steps that policy makers took last year to stabilize the financial system — reducing interest rates to near zero, bolstering big banks with taxpayer money, guaranteeing billions of dollars of financial institutions’ debts — helped set the stage for this new era of Wall Street wealth.

You can’t make up stuff like this! Facing jeers over outlandish pay, the CEO of Goldman Sachs stresses the social goods of his firm's business.

Blankfein, speaking at a breakfast conversation hosted by Fortune, emphasized that the investment firm serves "an important social purpose" by channeling pools of money held by pension funds and others to companies and governments around the world…

But Blankfein said principal trading -- trades the firm makes for its own account -- makes up just a small fraction of Goldman's profits. [Perhaps Blankfein needs remedial math.]

How can Blankfein make such an absurd claim when in the last quarter $10B of Goldie’s $12.4B in revenue came from trading? Obviously Blankfein believes people are stupid given his statement that Goldies principal trading makes up a small fraction of Goldie’s profits. What a crock! And Al Capone used to run soup kitchens.

Borrow from the Federal Reserve at zero and lend to Treasury for a profit. That's some racket. The banks have no incentive to lend. Most of them still have a significant amount of bad loans sitting on their books that they don't want to recognize as nonperforming. If the banks recognize these bad loans, all the write-offs may force them into bankruptcy. Instead, they hope that over time renegotiated loan terms will eventually allow the borrowers to make their payments. This ordeal could last at least a decade if this cycle is similar to other crises, like Japan's lost decade of the 1990s…banks can earn a huge spread by borrowing virtually unlimited amounts for nothing and lending that same money back to the Treasury.

Source: The International Forecaster

Is Your Bank Shorting the Dollar?

It doesn't matter how many times you've sent Congress a letter on a given issue, or even if you sent one yesterday -- every new fact we give you is a new opportunity to tell Congress what you want. Seize the opportunity!

Send Congress another letter telling them to break the Federal Reserve's monopoly control over your money.

My sample letter to Congress gives you three new facts you can use for this purpose . . .

Last April the monetary base (which is the number of circulating dollars) stood at $830 billion. Since then the Federal Reserve has created nearly a trillion new dollars out of thin air. The monetary base now stands at nearly $1.8 trillion, and rose by nearly $100 billion in September alone.

This legalized counterfeiting is why I believe reports that oil producing nations are planning to abandon the dollar. They would be foolish to do otherwise.

The gold market seems to agree. The one-ounce price of gold has risen nearly $400 in the last year. People are trading their inflated Federal Reserve Notes for assets that will retain their value.

And even U.S. banks are fleeing the dollar. The New York Post reports that U.S. banks used to hold about 2/3rds of their reserves in dollars, but they're now holding nearly 70% in Euros and Yen.

Foreign nations and powerful institutions can escape the dollar, but I don't have the same freedom. Various federal laws force me to conduct my business in devaluing Federal Reserve Notes. I would prefer to use honest, free market money, like gold and silver, but if I attempt to do that YOUR laws threaten to point a policeman's gun at my head.

You're supposed to represent and protect me. You do not work for the Congressional leadership, the Federal Reserve, or the banks. You work for me. Please represent me. Please protect me. Please break the Federal Reserve's monopoly control over my money. Introduce legislation to repeal the laws that force me to use Federal Reserve Notes.

END OF SAMPLE LETTER TO CONGRESS

You can send your letter to Congress using the proprietary Educate the Powerful System at DownsizeDC.org.

Spread the word to others.

Jim Babka, President
DownsizeDC.org. Inc.

Sources:

Federal Reserve report on the Monetary Base: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/BOGUMBNS.txt
Historical Gold Prices: http://66.38.218.33/charts/historicalgold.html
New York Post report on bank reserves in Euros and Yen versus the dollar: http://tinyurl.com/yzxbphx

Source: Downsize DC.Org

Americans Want Federal Reserve’s Secret Shenanigans Exposed

A recent survey by a major U.S. polling firm has found that an overwhelming majority of Americans support auditing the privately owned and controlled Federal Reserve.

According to the respected national polling company Rasmussen Reports, 75 percent of American respondents said they “favor auditing the Fed and making the results available to the public.”

In a press release issued in late July, Rasmussen did not specifically cite Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed bill (H.R. 1207), instead vaguely referring to the fact that “half the members of the House now support a bill giving the Government Accounting Office, Congress’ investigative agency, the authorization to audit the books of the Federal Reserve Board.

Support for the bill has grown now that the Obama administration is proposing to give the Fed greater economic regulatory powers.”

It also noted that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, during a recent town hall meeting, tried to convince the gathering that the American public does not believe government should be involved in managing money.

“I don’t think the American people want Congress running monetary policy,” he said. Rasmussen’s pollsters certainly showed that the American people disagree with Bernanke and want the secret fiscal operations engaged in by the Federal Reserve Board exposed.

During a telephone survey of 1,000 adults conducted between July 27 and July 28, the polled found that only 9 percent of respondents opposed the plan, saying that they think it is a bad idea to scrutinize the country’s central bank. Another 15 percent said they were not sure. Other findings by Rasmussen include:

46 percent of Americans say the Fed chairman has too much power over the U.S. economy. Fifty-one percent of those taking the survey oppose expanding the Fed’s regulatory powers. 54 percent of Americans believe interest rates will continue to rise in the coming years by as much as 20 points.

“So much for the ongoing secrecy of the nation’s independent central banking system,” concluded Rasmussen. Since AFP’s last report on the Audit the Fed bill, six new congressmen have signed up to co-sponsor Paul’s landmark bill bringing the grand total to 282. They are:

Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif), Rep. Laura Richardson (DCalif.), Rep. John A. Boccieri (D-Ohio), Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-N.J.) and Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.).

The Senate version of Paul’s legislation (S. 604), introduced by Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Ver.) has 20 cosponsors. They include: Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Sen.Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wisc.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sen.Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Sen. Blanche L. Lincoln (D-Ark.), Sen. JohnMcCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. David Vitter (R-La.).

Source: American Free Press

Fed warns on Congressional scrutiny - AGAIN!

The Federal Reserve warned on Thursday that a growing congressional threat to curtail its independence would destabilise markets and raise the cost of servicing US debt for “current and future generations”.

Ron Paul, the Texas Republican, has gathered the support of a majority of the House of Representatives for a bill that would audit the Fed’s monetary policy decisions. He told a Congressional hearing he wanted the power to prevent the Fed being "secret and clandestine and serving special interests”.

The Fed is struggling to face down a political backlash from different parts of Congress amid scepticism over its policies designed to restart the flow of credit and the award of new powers to curb systemic risks.

Donald Kohn, vice-chairman of the Fed, argued at the House financial services subcommittee hearing that any sense of political interference would negatively affect markets. “Any substantial erosion of the Federal Reserve’s monetary independence likely would lead to higher long-term interest rates as investors begin to fear future inflation,” he said.

Not only did Mr Kohn argue that the Fed should be given the power to regulate large systemically significant companies, but he argued against giving up responsibility for consumer protection, asking Congress to overturn the Obama administration’s proposal to create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

”I would hope that the Congress might think about whether there are ways of strengthening the Federal Reserve’s commitment to consumer regulation as an alternative to creating a new regulator,” he said.

As US authorities have considered how to reform the country’s regulatory regime in the wake of the current economic crisis, the Fed has been drawn into an argument with other regulators over who oversees the US’s largest financial institutions.

The conflict appeared to end with the Obama administration giving power over systemically significant insitutions to the Fed, with additional oversight from a council of regulators including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

But critics in Congress have not given up an attempt to push all or more of the power to the council, taking it away from the Fed. The hearing on Thursday heard support for that view. Mr Paul’s audit bill now has more than 250 co-sponsors.

Source: FT.Com

FED FOCUS-Bid to clip Fed's wings gains support in Congress

WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) - A proposal from a long-time congressional foe of the Federal Reserve that could give lawmakers sway over monetary policy has won the support of a majority in the House of Representatives, alarming officials at the U.S. central bank.

The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, put forward by Republican Representative Ron Paul of Texas, now has 250 co-sponsors in the House. It will get air-time on Thursday during a congressional hearing on Fed independence that will feature testimony from the Fed's No. 2 official, Donald Kohn.

Public anger over the trillion dollars the Fed has put into play to battle the financial crisis and bail out investment bank Bear Stearns and insurer American International Group (AIG.N) has created a backlash and calls for more accountability.

A proposal from President Barack Obama to put the Fed in charge of monitoring risks to the entire financial system has intensified the scrutiny.

Paul has tapped into this anger and put forward a 2-1/2 page bill that would explicitly repeal a provision of law that prohibits the Government Accountability Office, a government watchdog agency, from auditing monetary policy decisions.

Fed officials see this as a dangerous intrusion on their independence that could hinder their ability to make the best long-term decisions for the economy.

Paul, however, thinks Congress needs more control.

"Why should they be independent? Independence to them means secrecy, do whatever they want, spend billions of dollars, bail out their friends," Paul told Reuters Television.

Paul's bill, which is co-sponsored by 78 Democrats, would also expose Fed transactions with foreign central banks, Fed emergency lending operations and discussions between Fed officials to scrutiny by the GAO, which can offer policy suggestions to lawmakers.

To become law, the bill would need to win support from the House Democratic leadership, who have yet to show an appetite to move the bill. It would then have to pass the Senate, where support would likely be scarcer.

But analysts say Congress is unusually sensitive to the public mood in the wake of the crisis and say the bill must be taken seriously.

"This is the most populist Congress that we've seen in decades and legislation like this can quickly gain momentum if it is ignored," said Jaret Seiberg, a financial services policy analyst at the Washington Research Group.

Citing the recent congressional clamor over executive compensation and new rules on credit cards, he said Democratic leaders may be wary of blocking legislation they feel is picking up popular support.

"This Congress has shown that when the electorate is upset it will act extraordinarily quickly ... This should not have any legs at all, and the fact that it does shows how populist this Congress has become," Seiberg said.

The Fed, for its part, is taking Paul very seriously.

"My concern about the legislation is that if the GAO is auditing not only the operational aspects of our programs and the details of the programs, but is making judgments about our policy decisions, that would effectively be a takeover of monetary policy by the Congress," Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said during congressional testimony on June 25.

That would be "a repudiation of the independence of the Federal Reserve, which would be highly disruptive to the stability of the financial system, the dollar and our national economic situation," he warned.

Co-sponsors of Paul's bill say the intention is not to clip the Fed's wings, but simply to let a little daylight into a very secretive institution.

"It is important for them to remain independent. But I still believe that these are taxpayer dollars, and the more light that is shined on expenditures and cost analysis is something that the taxpayer is entitled to," said Representative Shelley Capito, a Republican from West Virginia.

An effort in the Senate to attach a matching bill to other legislation was thwarted on procedural grounds.

But analysts say the bill could be offered up as a possible Republican amendment to any finance bill until midterm elections in November 2010 in the hope of persuading a few more Democrats to give it their backing.

"There's a trade-off between their business as a central banker and their need for stability in the financial system and also their accountability and transparency," said Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who is a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee. "That's going to have to be worked out. I don't think there's yet a complete conclusion as to how that's done," he told Reuters.

Source: Reuters

Criminal Rothchilds

Source: You Tube

Chair of Federal Reserve and several others are suspected of committing crimes, who will prosecute?

Well, here it is folks, a very small example of the major criminal activity of the criminal bankers that are running our country. You heard it right from the Judges mouth, these men have been exposed to have committed a crime, and should be charged and prosecuted for it!

I have been blogging about this criminal regime of bankers who are robbing us and running our government from behind a curtain of secrecy over and over again. It is important that we take note of this recent exposure. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT RUN OUR ECONOMY, THAT CONTROL OUR CURRENCY, OUR INTEREST RATES, THAT ARE TELLING US TO BACK OFF FROM AUDITING THEM OR THEY WILL COLLAPSE OUR ECONOMY! Hmm, Mr. Bernanke, that sounds alot like the threat you employed to force Bank of America to purchase Meryll Lynch for 17 billion dollars more than it was worth, that you would "fire" the president if he did not go through with the deal.

Now, if we choose not to leave you alone, if we demand to see what activity you have committed to behind closed doors concerning our money and our economy, you will bankrupt us?

SCREW YOU! And screw the rogue administration under Obama who is now moving with force to protect and further empower you!

When will people get it? These are the people in control. They have a transnationalist philosophy which they live by, they have no allegience to the United States, only to profits the burden of which is carried on the backs of the American taxpayers. They have shown not only a willingness to ignore and operate outside of the law, but have taken the position that they are above the law telling us to back off or the dollar, and our economy, just might collapse.

We know all of this! WE SEE AND HEAR IT COMING RIGHT FROM THE MOUTHS OF THESE CRIMINALS! AND IN THE WORST ACT OF TREASON OF ALL, OBAMA, AT A TIME WHEN SCANDAL AND CORRUPTION, SECRECY AND SUSPICION SURROUND THE FEDERAL RESERVE, IS MOVING SWIFTLY TO EMPOWER THE FED WITH LEGAL CONTROL OVER OUR ENTIRE FINANCIAL SECTOR AND MARKET, AND TO PROTECT THEM FROM ANY SERIOUS SCRUTINY.

No wonder Geithner is the Secretary of Treasury, he is the former Chair of the Federal Reserve!!

CORRUPTION AND SCANDAL ARE THE WORKS OF THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS RUNNING THIS COUNTRY AND THIS ECONOMY BEHIND THE CURTAIN OF SECRECY.

CONVICT THE CRIMINALS! IT IS TIME TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK.

It's time to put criminals behind bars!

Source: The Fading American Dream

Real ID, Pass Act, Audit the Fed

Quote of the Day: "Those who suppress freedom always do so in the name of law and order." -- John V. Lindsay

The people of Iran are risking their lives, and in some cases losing them, in a bid to gain their freedom. We need not risk so much to restore and retain our freedom, but for that to remain true we must vigorously use our right to petition our government for a redress of grievances. This means...

We must relentlessly increase our pressure, telling Congress to obey the Constitution, and to undo the constitutional violations they've already committed. Our pressure must keep increasing until the politicians demonstrate their submission to the Constitution. To make that happen...

We must apply more pressure each month than we did the previous month. We're now nearing the end of June. To make sure we exceed the 36,512 messages we sent last month we're going to ask you to hit Congress on two issues today, the REAL ID Act and Congressman Ron Paul's Audit the Fed bill.

The de facto national ID card that the REAL ID Act would create, seems to be going nowhere. The people don't want it, and 25 states are refusing to impose it. This has been a significant victory for the idea that the people can pressure their government into submission. But...

The law remains on the books and will be a continuing threat until it's repealed. Meanwhile, the idea of a national ID card is being revived under the guise of a new name, the PASS Act.

Jim Harper, of the Cato Institute, reveals how the PASS Act is being driven by lobbyists seeking secure jobs as the procurers and protectors of federal funding that state governments would use to implement the PASS Act.

This must not be allowed to happen. YOU must serve as a counter-lobby against the professional lobbyists who want to pick your pocket and violate your rights.

As we've told you before, not only is a national ID card essentially an internal passport like those used by dictatorial governments around the world, we think it will also help pave the way for federal bureaucrats to control all of your health care decisions.

Please go to DownsizeDC.org's REAL ID campaign page and send your Congressional employees a message.

Tell them to repeal the REAL ID Act. Use your personal comments to tell them they must also KILL the PASS Act.

After you've done that, please also apply additional pressure to get Ron Paul's Audit the Fed bill passed. There's continuing good news on this front. The bill now has 237 cosponsors in the House, and a second cosponsor, David Vitter (R-LA), has signed on in the Senate. Go here to check if your House Rep. is already a co-sponsor. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1207

Then go to DownsizeDC.org's campaign page to Audit the Fed and urge passage of HR 1207 in the House and S 604 in the Senate.

Use your personal comments to thank your Rep if he or she is already a co-sponsor, or to urge him or her to become a co-sponsor. Urge your Senators to cosponsor S. 604 unless your Senator is DeMint or Vitter, in which case you should thank them for their support of S. 604.

Remember what the people in Iran are facing, and take action secure in the knowledge that no one is going to shoot at you because you're pressuring your government.

Source: Downsize DC

What Is A Bank President Doing On The Warren Commission

Source: You Tube